Tropical Storm Harvey inflicted more damage on the heart of the U.S. energy industry overnight after flooding the biggest U.S. refiner in Texas and then churning into Louisiana, causing fuel shortages and high gasoline prices that could afflict the country for weeks.
Harvey's disruption of the petroleum industry has driven gasoline futures prices up 16 percent over the past week and prices at the pump are rising too, particularly in the South.
About 4.2 million barrels of U.S. refining capacity has been shut by Harvey, based on company reports and Reuters estimates. That is almost equal to the national daily consumption of Japan.